What're you brewing right now?

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 4:46 pm

grub wrote:almost done brewing for the year. saturday was our 5th annual lambic brewday, another 20gal in the tanks. bit of a mad house with a huge crowd, badass food, insane beers, and all of us trying to cram into my little garage around the brewing gear due to the rain. worked out pretty well though.

probably try and get one more brewday in, debating a few options. have some brett i want to use too, so i might throw in a solo run somewhere along the way.

you know that i'm pissed that i don't make the cut to be invited, right?

not sure why you don't brew in the winter. weather's mild for a few days a month that i can brew 1-2 batches/month.

i'm giving my lambic a go (still not sure how i'll do the mash) in the next 2 months.

grub · Post by **grub** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 8:46 am

atomeyes wrote:you know that i'm pissed that i don't make the cut to be invited, right?

sorry dude, it was a full house and barely room to move as it was.

atomeyes wrote:not sure why you don't brew in the winter. weather's mild for a few days a month that i can brew 1-2 batches/month.

it's a combination of factors:

1) once the hoses freeze, it's too much hassle to brew. i've sworn off it and done it anyway and cursed every minute of it.

2) I like to enjoy brewing, not have to fight through it. I still manage to brew about 200 gallons a year, and the tanks are usually pretty full by the time we shut down for winter anyway. I've got 6 kegs in the kegerator now, two on deck, and 4 more batches ready for kegs. and I generally buy a keg or two over the winter, further stretching that until spring.

3) it's a small 1-car garage, so just getting all the brew gear stored away to make room for the car in the winter is a challenge, so unpacking/repacking for single brewdays is more hassle than it's worth.

4) even if there are a few mild days a month, it's rare that they also line up with a weekend where I happen to be available. a warm sunny tuesday does me no good.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:07 am

I agree with Grub. I have a double attached garage with floor drain and hot and cold water. But it isn't insulated, so it is still below freezing out there in the middle of winter.

So yes, I can brew out there year round, but it just aint quite as fun.

However, recent discussions have suggested that there may be a $10k budget to outfit my garage with heat, natural gas and a BrewMagic system.

grub · Post by **grub** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:42 am

markaberrant wrote:However, recent discussions have suggested that there may be a $10k budget to outfit my garage with heat, natural gas and a BrewMagic system.

sooooo happy to have natural gas out there now. i love not having to make multiple runs for propane refills during brewdays. plus, 3 burners now instead of 2!

I think if I knew I was still going to be in this place in 5 years I'd consider trying to do insulation and all that to facilitate winter brewing, but it's not worth it otherwise.

IMHO, if you know anyone handy with welding and such you're better off building your own system. you can get it at a fraction of the cost and customize it to exactly your liking. But I know some folks do like the ready-made setup. My setup is pretty simple (single tier 3 burner, no automation) but I got it for a steal, built exactly to the specs I requested. I can slowly add in all the automation stuff over time too.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 12:06 pm

Yeah, we are looking for an automated system that is basically ready to go out of the box. I'm not looking for another project to tinker with, but I do agree that building it yourself would be far cheaper, and likely better in terms of meeting specific needs.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:13 pm

markaberrant wrote:Yeah, we are looking for an automated system that is basically ready to go out of the box. I'm not looking for another project to tinker with, but I do agree that building it yourself would be far cheaper, and likely better in terms of meeting specific needs.

just get a fancy RIMS system. think they even wipe your buttocks if you program it properly

the advantage of Toronto versus the prairies is that we get 2 more months of summer temps than you. the three day forecast? 12, 17, 14. as opposed to Winnipeg, were Halloween was the over/under for our first day of snow.

so i can get away with winter brewdays. we get something like a chinook. it's called global warming.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:31 am

just racked my Singulairity-inspired porter to secondary. 25 days in primary and after tasting it, it won't need long in secondary. no alcohol heat to it.

when i make this again, i'll add some wheat flakes. not as sweet as i remember singularity to be, but man, this is fucking nice. think i've fallen in love with oak-smoked wheat.

J343MY · Post by **J343MY** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 4:23 pm

Today I brewed sort of a lambic-ish beer. It is currently relaxing in my coolship until tomorrow morning.

grub · Post by **grub** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:47 pm

J343MY wrote:Today I brewed sort of a lambic-ish beer. It is currently relaxing in my coolship until tomorrow morning.

neat coolship. does it have a drain on the bottom or are you resorting to siphoning? only problem i'd have is I'd need 4 of 'em...

J343MY · Post by **J343MY** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:50 pm

grub wrote:
J343MY wrote:Today I brewed sort of a lambic-ish beer. It is currently relaxing in my coolship until tomorrow morning.
neat coolship. does it have a drain on the bottom or are you resorting to siphoning? only problem i'd have is I'd need 4 of 'em...

It has a drain. This was the first time I used it and it worked quite well.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 5:42 pm

living in the stix has total advantages, Jeremy.

tomorrow, brewing a Westy blonde "clone". not sure if i can get that grassiness that Westy has.

Friday, brewing a Belgian chocolate blonde. if you've never brewed with cacao husks, you really should. they're beautiful.

grub · Post by **grub** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:51 am

brewing on saturday, possibly the last brewday of the year. 100% brett c IPA and an ~8% stout that'll be split and have 5gal pitched clean and the other 5gal with 100% brett trois. should be fun!

if all goes well friday, I'll have my new mill completed and can give it the maiden voyage. currently have the base complete and the motor wired up and working, now just need to build the big ol' hopper for it.

Swampale · Post by **Swampale** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 6:57 am

Brewing an English Pale Ale right now with UK plug hops for the first time.
90% Pearl, 10% C - 60 with Wyeast 1318. Target @ 60, Challenger @ 30, Goldings @ 15.

O.G. - 1.047, SRM - 8.4, IBU - 25

J343MY · Post by **J343MY** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 3:19 pm

just finished brewing a pale ale with lots of galaxy and Nelson Sauvin.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 7:25 am

brewing a Grinchmas holiday porter.
never really use loose spices when i brew, so i'm iffy on the quantities to add.
looking at 1 g of nutmeg, 5 g on cinnamon and maybe 5 g of ginger (to a 5 gallon brew) at 1 min.